Latest content added for Digital Library Partner: UNT Librarieshttps://digital.library.unt.edu/explore/partners/UNT/browse/?fq=str_degree_discipline:Kinesiology&fq=untl_collection:UNTETD&display=grid2017-07-12T03:17:08-05:00UNT LibrariesThis is a custom feed for browsing Digital Library Partner: UNT LibrariesAcademic Stress in Student-Athletes2017-07-12T03:17:08-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc984225/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc984225/"><img alt="Academic Stress in Student-Athletes" title="Academic Stress in Student-Athletes" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc984225/small/"/></a></p><p>Academic stress and the causes of such stress are subjects that are found in very few studies concerning student-athletes. Therefore, the purpose of this quantitative study is to determine how the following variables relate to academic stress and perceived stress either through correlations or differences--demographics, academic classification, major or field of study, athletic scholarship status, and season of sport (in- season/ out of season). An online questionnaire containing a Perceived Stress Scale and a Perception of Academic Stress scale were distributed to 151 student-athlete participants at a university in the southwest United States. The results indicated that biological sex has a significant relationship to perceived stress. No other variables were found significant to perceived stress or academic stress.</p>Coaching Efficacy Beliefs and Transformational Leadership Behaviors: Their Ability to Predict Motivational Climate2016-08-31T22:41:47-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc862726/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc862726/"><img alt="Coaching Efficacy Beliefs and Transformational Leadership Behaviors: Their Ability to Predict Motivational Climate" title="Coaching Efficacy Beliefs and Transformational Leadership Behaviors: Their Ability to Predict Motivational Climate" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc862726/small/"/></a></p><p>This study investigated the relationship between belief in coaching abilities (coaching efficacy beliefs, CEB), transformational leadership behaviors (TLB), and motivational climate development of current strength and conditioning coaches working with high school level athletes. The measures used were the coaching efficacy scale for high school teams (CES II-HST, Myers et al.,2000), the differentiated transformational leadership inventory (DTLI, Callow et al., 2009), and the patterns of adaptive learning scales (PALS, Midgley et al., 2000). It was hypothesized that CEB and TLB would influence motivational climate development, while coaches' background characteristics would correlate with CEB, TLB, and motivational climate development. The 60 coaches who participated reported an average of thirteen (SD=8) years of experience and 51 were Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialists. Coaches reported high efficacy, frequent use of TLB, and development of a moderately high task- and somewhat ego-involving motivational climate. Correlations between demographic variables and CEB, TLB, and motivational climate development revealed three significant relationships: years of experience with CEB, and professional development activities and athlete to coach ratio with ego-involving climate development. CEB and TLB had a strong positive correlation. Two regression analyses were conducted to determine if the outcomes of the CEB and TLB measures predicted motivational climate development. The only significant predictor was TLB positively predicting development of a task-involving motivational climate. Strength coaches can utilize the findings of this study help shape their leadership behaviors and develop a task-involving motivational climate that emphasizes effort, improvement, and cooperative learning and is optimal for athlete development and performance.</p>Does Downhill Running Alter Monocyte Susceptibility to Apoptosis?2016-08-31T22:41:47-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc862759/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc862759/"><img alt="Does Downhill Running Alter Monocyte Susceptibility to Apoptosis?" title="Does Downhill Running Alter Monocyte Susceptibility to Apoptosis?" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc862759/small/"/></a></p><p>Introduction/purpose: Recovery from muscle damage involves a type of programmed cell death known as apoptosis. Damage Associated Molecular Patterns (DAMPs) are released after muscle damage and may cause premature apoptosis in monocytes infiltrating the damaged site. This may alter the time course of events towards recovery. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate if downhill running causes a change in the susceptibility of monocytes to apoptosis. Methods: Participants (5 male, 6 female) completed a downhill running protocol consisting of 6-5 minute bouts at a speed of 6-9mph on a -15% grade treadmill. Venous blood samples were collected immediately pre-exercise (PRE), in addition to 4 -h, 24 -h and 48 -h post-exercise. Creatine kinase (CK) was measured to give an indication of muscle damage. Monocytes were analyzed by flow cytometry for expression of multicaspase and annexin v reagent was used to detect changes in the plasma membrane. A MILLIPLEX MAP human early apoptosis magnetic bead 7-plex kit (EMD Millipore, Billerica, MA) was used to assess the relative concentration of phosphorylated protein kinase B (Akt), Bcl-2 associated death promoter (BAD), B cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2), active caspase-8, active caspase-9, c jun N terminal kinase (JNK) and tumor protein p53 by Luminex multiplex assay. Results: CK peaked at 24- h. Monocytes showed greater expression of multicaspase at 24 –h and 48 -h than at PRE. Bcl-2, p53 and caspase-8 were all significantly greater at 24 –h than at PRE. Conclusion: Downhill running did alter the apoptotic response of monocytes and therefore may be important in the recovery process from muscle damage.</p>Evaluating the Pulse Sensor as a Low-Cost and Portable Measurement of Blood Pulse Waveform2016-06-28T16:28:55-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc849682/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc849682/"><img alt="Evaluating the Pulse Sensor as a Low-Cost and Portable Measurement of Blood Pulse Waveform" title="Evaluating the Pulse Sensor as a Low-Cost and Portable Measurement of Blood Pulse Waveform" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc849682/small/"/></a></p><p>This study was aimed at determining whether the digital volume pulse waveform using the Pulse Sensor can be used to extract features related to arterial compliance. The Pulse Sensor, a low-cost photoplethysmograph, measures green light reflection in the finger and generates output, which is indicative of blood flow and can be read by the low-cost Arduino UNO™. The Pulse Sensor code was modified to increase the sampling frequency and to capture the data in a file, which is subsequently used for waveform analysis using programs written in the R system. Waveforms were obtained using the Pulse Sensor during two 30-s periods of seated rest, in each of 44 participants, who were between the ages of 20 and 80 years. For each cardiac cycle, the first four derivatives of the waveform were calculated and low-pass filtered by convolution before every differentiation step. The program was written to extract 19 features from the pulse waveform and its derivatives. These features were selected from those that have been reported to relate to the physiopathology of hemodynamics. Results indicate that subtle features of the pulse waveform can be calculated from the fourth derivative. Feature misidentification occurred in cases of saturation or low voltage and resulted in outliers; therefore, trimmed means of the features were calculated by automatically discarding the outliers. There was a high efficiency of extraction for most features. Significant relationships were found between several of the features and age, and systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial blood pressure, suggesting that these features might be employed to predict arterial compliance. Further improvements in experimental design could lead to a more detailed evaluation of the Pulse Sensor with respect to its capability to predict factors related to arterial compliance.</p>The Effect of Post-resistance Exercise Alcohol Ingestion on LPS-stimulated Cytokines2016-03-04T16:14:01-06:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc804851/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc804851/"><img alt="The Effect of Post-resistance Exercise Alcohol Ingestion on LPS-stimulated Cytokines" title="The Effect of Post-resistance Exercise Alcohol Ingestion on LPS-stimulated Cytokines" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc804851/small/"/></a></p><p>The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of post-resistance exercise alcohol ingestion on LPS-stimulated production of IFNγ, TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10. Recreationally resistance-trained men (n = 10, 25 ± 3 yr, 177 ± 7 cm, 83.8 ± 15.7 kg, 14.8 ± 8.5% body fat) and women (n = 8, 23 ± 2 yr, 161 ± 3 cm, 59.5 ± 6.0 kg, 26.5 ± 3.0% body fat) completed the study. Participants visited the laboratory for an initial visit at which time they were screened, familiarized with procedures, and had their 1-repetition maximum (1RM) back squat tested. Subsequently, participants visited the laboratory 2 more times and completed 2 identical heavy resistance exercise bouts (6 sets of 10 repetitions of 80% 1RM back squat) after which a beverage, either containing alcohol (alcohol condition, ALC; 1.09 g EtOH per kg fat free mass) or water (placebo condition, PLA), was administered. Blood samples were collected before exercise (PRE), and at 3 hours (3h) and 5 hours (5h) after exercise. Samples were stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and cultured overnight. Supernatant was collected and analyzed for IFNγ, TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10. A significant (p < 0.05) main effect for time was found for IFNγ, TNF-α, and IL-1β (5h greater than PRE) and for IL-10 (5h less than PRE and 3h, 3h less than PRE). An interaction effect was found for IL-8 (ALC less than PLA at 5h) and for IL-6 (ALC greater than PLA at PRE and ALC less than PLA at 3h). For IL-6, ALC was less at 3h than at PRE, and PLA was greater at 3h than at PRE. Overall, the LPS-stimulated cytokine response was pro-inflammatory by 5h. Alcohol consumed after heavy resistance exercise reduced LPS-stimulated production of IL-6 and IL-8 but not of IFNγ, TNF-α, IL-1β, or IL-10. These data indicate that alcohol affected inflammatory capacity but that the potential effect of alcohol on the production of cytokines in response to LPS was largely overwhelmed by the resistance exercise bout.</p>The Influence of Psychological Momentum on Basketball Shooting Performance2016-02-02T13:35:12-06:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc799533/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc799533/"><img alt="The Influence of Psychological Momentum on Basketball Shooting Performance" title="The Influence of Psychological Momentum on Basketball Shooting Performance" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc799533/small/"/></a></p><p>The purpose of this research was to examine the influence of fictitious scoring updates on psychological momentum (PM) and athletic performance in a competitive basketball setting. The participants included in this study were 50 male undergraduate students who reported having played basketball previously and qualified by being able to make more than 24% (12 out of 50) of their 3-point shots in a pre-trial session. Participants were told that they were competing in a 50 shot, 3-point shooting competition against another individual, equal in ability. After every 10 shots, participants were given a fabricated score update and answered four questions used to measure PM. Results showed that the fictitious score updates significantly (p < .01) influenced participants’ PM scores, where those who were told they led had higher PM scores than those who were told they trailed. As for shooting performance, no significant differences (p = .76) were found between positive and negative PM states for participants who reported experiencing both during the competition. Together, these findings suggest that manufactured score updates can influence PM, but resultant performance differences may not exist. Results of this study lend support to the notion that PM is experienced by athletes. However, when examining basketball shooting performance, the momentum-performance relationship is statistically unsupported. Thus, although PM is thought of by many as a game-changing factor, this study would suggest that PM plays a negligible role in changes to individual performance.</p>The Effects of a Psychosocial Environment on College Women’s Exercise Regulations and Social Physique Anxiety2016-02-02T13:35:12-06:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc799470/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc799470/"><img alt="The Effects of a Psychosocial Environment on College Women’s Exercise Regulations and Social Physique Anxiety" title="The Effects of a Psychosocial Environment on College Women’s Exercise Regulations and Social Physique Anxiety" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc799470/small/"/></a></p><p>A positive psychosocial intervention comprised of high autonomy support, task-involvement, and caring was implemented in physical activity classes to examine its effects on college women’s basic psychological needs (i.e. autonomy, competence, relatedness), exercise regulations (i.e. external, introjected, identified, integrated, intrinsic) and social physique anxiety (SPA). We hypothesized that at the end of the semester, participants in the intervention group (N = 73) would report greater need satisfaction, more self-determined regulations and less SPA than participants in the non-intervention group (N = 60). At T1 and T2, both the intervention and non-intervention participants reported “agreeing” with experiencing an autonomy supportive, task-involving, and caring environment. Furthermore, both groups at T1 and T2 reported moderate SPA. No significant group differences were found at T1. At T2, significant group differences were observed in the intervention and non-intervention groups’ report of external regulation and intrinsic regulation. The results suggests that group exercise instructors are capable of creating a positive psychosocial environment to enhance students’ intrinsic motivation.</p>The Effects of Mental Imagery Training on a Baseball Throwing Task2015-03-09T08:15:06-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc500604/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc500604/"><img alt="The Effects of Mental Imagery Training on a Baseball Throwing Task" title="The Effects of Mental Imagery Training on a Baseball Throwing Task" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc500604/small/"/></a></p><p>This study was designed to determine if long term training of mental imagery skills is more beneficial to an athlete than immediate imagery rehearsal practiced only prior to an event. Subjects were thirty male high school baseball athletes who were randomly assigned to one of three treatment conditions: (1) long term imagery training and practice; (2) immediate imagery practice only; and (3) control. An accuracy relay-throwing test was performed with pre-test, mid-test, and post-test performance trials. Results of the study revealed no statistically significant differences over the three test periods for any of the treatment conditions. Thus, long term imagery combined with immediate imagery practice, immediate imagery practice and control groups performed equally well on the baseball throwing task.</p>Reliability of a Graded Exercise Test During Deep Water Running and Comparison of Peak Metabolic Responses to Treadmill Running2015-03-09T08:15:06-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc501238/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc501238/"><img alt="Reliability of a Graded Exercise Test During Deep Water Running and Comparison of Peak Metabolic Responses to Treadmill Running" title="Reliability of a Graded Exercise Test During Deep Water Running and Comparison of Peak Metabolic Responses to Treadmill Running" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc501238/small/"/></a></p><p>Populations that utilize deep water running (DWR) are described in Chapter I. A review of the literature concerning maximal and submaximal responses during DWR, shallow water running and swimming is presented in Chapter II. The protocols to elicit maximal responses during DWR and treadmill running (TMR), subject characteristics, and statistical methods employed are described in Chapter III. The results, presented in Chapter IV, indicate that the DWR protocol is a reliable test for eliciting peak oxygen consumption and heart rate. Furthermore, the metabolic responses during DWR are lower than TMR. Chapter V discusses factors which might limit maximal responses during DWR. Chapter VI contains suggestions for further research. Raw data are presented in Appendix A.</p>Effects of Strength on Selected Psychomotor Performances of Healthy and Frail Elderly Females2015-03-09T08:15:06-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc500976/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc500976/"><img alt="Effects of Strength on Selected Psychomotor Performances of Healthy and Frail Elderly Females" title="Effects of Strength on Selected Psychomotor Performances of Healthy and Frail Elderly Females" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc500976/small/"/></a></p><p>The purpose of this study was to compare muscle strength and psychomotor performance measures in healthy (n = 18) and frail (n = 21) groups of elderly women utilizing movements requiring various amounts of strength and ballistic action. Subjects were community-dwelling females ranging in age from 66-92 years. Evaluations of functional assessment of motor skills and grip strength occurred. Psychomotor performance was measured through production of aiming movements on a Digitizing Tablet. RT, MT, and movement kinematics (e.g., peak velocity, deceleration, movement adjustments) were evaluated. Differences between groups were apparent in quantity and quality of movement. Healthy subjects were stronger and faster than frail subjects, producing smoother movements with fewer adjustments. Strength appears to differentially affect healthy and frail samples and merits further exploration.</p>